- Yes, don’t care how
- Yes, as a researchable vehicle
- Yes, as a premium/event/squadron vehicle
- No
- BeNeLux tree
- French tree
- Other
- I said no
Welcome to another suggestion for a Belgian vehicle, this time we’ll be looking at the most modern variant of the DF30, the DF30 (Spike)
The Piranha IIIC DF30 is a result of Belgium’s post-cold-war restructuring. After the end of the cold war, defense budgets in Belgium were slashed and the more expensive vehicles in the inventory were retired. The Piranha IIIC was chosen as the shared base for a variety of vehicles. An initial order for 138 vehicles of various types was signed, this would eventually seemingly grow as the fleet was stated to consist of the following vehicles: 99, APCs for the transport of ten soldiers, 32 Fire Support Vehicles with 30 mm weapon system, 40 Direct Fire Vehicles with 90mm cannon, 24 Command Vehicles, 12 Ambulances, 17 Repair and Recovery Vehicles and 18 Engineer Vehicles. Just like with the DF90s though, it seems that only 19 DF30s are currently in active service, similar low numbers of active vehicles are probably present across the board. The DF30 is currently Belgium’s fire-support and light AA vehicle. The turret is uncrewed and does not protrude into the crew compartment, which allows an additional 4 crew to be transported in the vehicle, on top of the standard crew of 3. DF30 in this case stands for “Direct Fire” and 30 is a reference to the caliber of the gun.
The Belgian DF90 vehicles were meant to be the country’s main choice as anti-armor platforms, however thanks to issues with the main gun, this vehicle is currently unable to fulfill that duty. Belgium had to find a solution to this issue, otherwise, they would be left without any anti-tank vehicles. As of the late 2010s and early 2020s, the decision was made to upgrade existing DF30 vehicles with Spike missiles. This upgrade allowed the vehicles to engage enemy armor up to 4km away, once again giving the Belgian army the ability to counter enemy armored threats. As of now (May 2023) the upgrade program still seems to be in-progress. Only a few images of the upgraded DF30s have been posted, and it’s unclear how many vehicles have already received the new upgrade. Originally the vehicles were meant to stay in service until somewhere in the 2030s, but with recent plans to expand the army again, they might stay in service longer.
The systems on the base Piranha IIIC DF30 already made it a versatile vehicle, the new missiles only add to that. The main armament is a 30mm bushmaster cannon, a weapon system that can already be found on a variety of vehicles in-game. This weapon comes integrated into the unmanned UT-30 turret, made by the Israeli company Elbit. The new upgrade adds two launcher tubes to the right side of the turret, each of these contains a single Spike missile. As we know, the Spike is an incredibly advanced weapon, with multiple guidance modes among which a fire-and-forget option. An additional 7.62mm coaxial machine gun is also present in the turret. The turret features all the bells and whistles that you could want, these include 2-plane stabilization, independent gunner and commander sights, thermals, laser rangefinder, ballistics computer, target tracking, … The relatively lightweight turret allows the vehicle to use its mobility well . This mobility is ensured by the 395hp Caterpillar C-9 engine which powers the vehicle. The exact weight seems unclear but probably a bit lighter than the DF90, but still around 20t. The vehicle can reach speeds as high as 100km/h and has an estimated range of 600-800km. It is a rather bulky vehicle for its type though, measuring in at 7.77m long, 2.72m wide and almost 3m tall.
General Characteristics:
- Crew: 3 (driver, gunner, commander) with the possibility of carrying 4 extra.
- Weight: around 20t
- Length: 7.77m
- Width: 2.72m
- Height: around 3m
- Engine: 1x Caterpillar C-9, producing 395hp
- Power-to-weight: +/-19hp/t
- Maximum speed: 105 km/h
- Range: 600-800km
Armament:
- 1x 30mm Bushmaster cannon.
- 2x Spike missile launchers.
- 1x coaxial 7.62mm FN machine gun
Systems:
- Stabilizer: yes, 2-plane
- Laser-rangefinder: yes
- commander-sight: yes
- thermals: yes, at least gunner.
- target tracking: yes
In-game:
The DF30 (Spike) is a significant upgrade over the regular DF30, transforming it from a support vehicle that would have to focus on engaging light targets and flanking into a platform that can engage heavy armor at significant ranges. In-game this would allow the vehicle to excel in large open maps, where it can use its good mobility to get into a position from where it can quickly fire its FnF Spike missiles, then quickly relocate to a different position to do the same thing. The 30mm cannon can still be used to engage and destroy any light vehicle that is fast enough to come after you. The DF30 (Spike) could be a real asset to the top echelons of any nation it could come to.